Limbert Lamp Table - Stickley #240 #4: Template Routing

I was able to get back out into the shop and make some progress on this project. This was my first foray into template routing. I can definitely see the power of this technique. I was able to knock out the inside, decorative cuts on all four sides and they’re identical. They need almost no sanding. The slight errors in the template were the only problems on the finished sides. It took only a light hand sanding to fix those.

I didn’t have too much trouble with wood grain, but I can certainly tell you that you need to use the starting pin. Once I missed in and the pattern bit grabbed the work and destroyed one of my leg bases. I actually thought about trimming all of them off to get rid of the chip out.

The interior shelf started out as a template, but I biffed the template. I also realized that once you’ve custom fit the sides together, the interior shelf needs to be custom fit.

I also made the ridiculously easily-avoided mistake of attaching the template to the OUTSIDE of the blank. Now I have a few screw holes to fill. Luckily, I’ve been assembling the table with a good side and a bad side in mind. I’ve managed to keep MOST of my mistakes on the BAD side, which will be up against the wall (with feeling).

I bit the bullet and glued two halves together the other night. I used Titebond II Dark Wood Glue, hoping it would blend with the final Stickley finish. Since the sides are at supposed right angles, it’s very difficult to clamp. I used a lot of tape and figured if it was a tad over 90, I could bend it in when when doing the final glue up (they’re just a few degrees over 90). To disguise the joint, I rounded over the corner with 80 grit sand paper, which ended up leaving a pretty slim glue line. The little gaps I plan to fill with stainable putty.

I trimmed the inside shelf to what I thought was the proper dimensions. It has to carefully fill the tapered gap, but not force the sides apart, a rather tricky situation. Just a tad undersized, I figure that the dark stain and the fact that it’s on the inside will help.

With regards to the cross braces, as I previously blogged, I had them half-lapped already. Once I jammed the shelf and ratcheted in the top, I was able to take measurements of the top, and going down the height of the cross brace. This roughly corroborated the 3 degree angle on the table. I set my miter gauge to 3 degrees on both sides and plowed out a dado deep enough to take the sides in and fit in the gap down the centerline. I was able to wedge and hammer the cross brace in, which solidified the top nicely. Now if I can only fix the gaps in the feet and deal with the chip out, I’ll be happy.

BTW, a rep from Valspar has been very nice to help me find the proper aniline dye and glaze to achieve an authentic Stickley finish (short of ammonia fuming). I’ll be blogging about that as it develops. I realize that Stickley pieces have a relatively wide range of finishes, at least to the eye, but I’m looking for that warm, brown finish, with an undertone of red.

I have to give kudos to my father-in-law. He helped me threadlock my collet to the motor on my Hitachi M12V 3 1/4 HP router. He also made my router table extension for my table saw, which allowed me to mount it upside down and crank out the above blanks.

I have to tell anyone who is thinking about making a project like this that I’m still a little confused about the angle of the miter for the sides. Robert Lang says just over 45, and TreeFrog says just under 45. Considering my table saw only goes to 45, I didn’t really know how to take it. Dry fits on the long mitered taper don’t really help. It’s only when you glue it up do you really see what’s up. I erred on the side of bending it square and minimizing the outside gap at 43 degrees.

Attaching the template to the blank (top):

Attaching the template to the blank (bottom):

Done routing (top):

Done routing (bottom):

Dry fit with TreeFrog’s cross-braces (gaps are exaggerated due to dry fit):

The plans are from Robert Lang’s book (see previous blog) and the procedure is nicely detailed in TreeFrogFurniture.Blogspot.com (including a SketchUp drawing). I could never have attempted this piece without these reference materials. If and when I recover from the trauma of this piece, I plan on doing the companion piece #238, which entails mostly the same techniques. I’m hoping that this blog will in some way augment TreeFrog’s and if anyone has questions about anything I’ve done, I’ll be happy to respond with my limited experience/knowledge.

I will tell you that each piece that I make that is more advanced than the previous one makes my girlfriend much more likely to invest in tools and wood. I’ve dragged her into Stickley furniture galleries and she’s rightfully aghast at the prices of even the current pieces. When we saw the prices of the originals at the SF Arts & Crafts Fair last weekend, she was on the verge of tears that I’m relatively handy in the shop (did I mention that I’m given to hyperbole?). BTW, I just got the Uniguard for my table saw after test-driving my father-in-law’s and losing a Beisemeyer on eBay. Sigh…

BTW, while working on another, albeit related topic, I stumbled back across Dusty's Limbert Table, Stickley #238! It’s in red oak and has his famous 12 step finish (why does everything come in twelves?). I smell another blog coming soon to theaters near you…

I don’t know how many of you obsess over your current project, but when I’m working on something that I really like, I like to stare at it all night after coming in from the shop. In this case, I actually brought the dry fit base into the living room where I could see it while watching TV.